Roast Beef with Shallot Gravy

On Sunday nights, I like to spend time in the kitchen. I could be happy in there all afternoon making a nice dinner and dessert for my family. When choosing my recipe, I consider a few things: is this something I need a good chunk of time to cook? Is this something I could make during the week? Will there be leftovers? Will it be worth it?

For this one, the answers were yes, no, yes and yes. In a nutshell, it took a while, it was worth it and there were definitely leftovers.

The gravy was warm and delicious, the roasted shallots a perfect texture and flavour for this dish. It really takes the traditional meat and potatoes dinner up a few notches.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef tenderloin
• 7-8 shallots, halved lengthwise and peeled
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups beef broth
• 3/4 red wine
• 1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a 9" pie plate, toss shallots with half the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast shallots until they are a deep brown colour and very tender, stirring occassionally. About 30 minutes.
• Pat beef dry and sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. In a large roasting pan, coat with the remaining olive oil and brown beef on all sides on medium to high heat.
• Transfer pan to oven and roast beef for about 30 minutes per pound. Transfer to platter and tent loosely with foil.
• While beef is cooking, in a large pot, comine beef broth and wine. Bring to a boil. Cook over high heat until the volume is reduced by half; about 30 minutes. Whisk in tomato paste and set aside.
• Once beef is finished, place roasting pan over high heat on stove top. Add broth mixture and bring to a boil; stir to scrape up any browned bits. Transfer to a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
• Mix 1 1/2 tbsp butter and flour in a small bowl to form smooth paste; whisk into broth and simmer until sauce thickens. Whisk in remaining butter. Stir in roasted shallots.
• Cut beef into 1/2 inch slices. Spoon sauce over beef.

Recipe adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com/